Spoke Folk Cyclery — Local services in Healdsburg

I had an extremely poor experience with Spoke Folk. I visited the shop while on vacation and subsequently purchased a high-end bicycle that was a closeout special. The shop packaged the bike and shipped it to me via UPS. Upon receiving the bike I noticed that it had been packaged inadequately and that the front wheel had made contact with the frame, rubbing the paint down to the carbon fiber. I called the shop and was told by the mechanic that packed the bike to “touch it up using black fingernail polish”! This was a several thousand-dollar bicycle…totally unacceptable answer. I purchased a new bike and expected to receive a new, undamaged bicycle. Luckily I had purchased insurance on the shipment at a cost of $60 additional dollars. I contacted UPS only to be told that they do not offer insurance, and that my payment was only to establish an “appraised value” in the event of a total loss. I escalated my claim but ultimately was informed that it was denied as a result of improper packaging.

The shop had apparently chosen to package the bike themselves and use the locally owned UPS Store to ship the package. According to The UPS Store, they will only take responsibility for damage if they are responsible for the packaging. Needless to say I was caught in the middle. The owner of Spoke Folk encouraged me to contact my credit card company about filing a claim (they only cover a max of $1,000) and suggested having the paint repaired. By this point in time I wanted to ship the bike back and be done with this mess. Unfortunately the owner did not want to take the bicycle back citing the fact that he sold it to me below his cost. After contacting American Express indicating that I wanted to dispute the charge, Spoke Folk finally agreed to a return. Unfortunately I had to pay to have it repacked properly and shipped back via FedEx (at my expense) setting me back $200.

I can honestly say that it was not a pleasure doing business with Spoke Folk and would highly discourage others from frequenting the business. In the end I feel that this whole situation could have been avoided had the bike been properly packaged…a simple case of negligence. The fact that they did not pick up the return freight shows their lack of...

I've had Spoke Folk work on a few of my bikes over the last few years: broken carbon fork on a road bike -- ouch -- and truing my mountain bike wheel as well as doing some tuning and inspection.

Most recently I was helped by Luca and Drew -- they're super friendly, good humored and professional (strong passion for biking and really knowledgeable).

I also called in looking for some parts. I talked to Steve and he was super helpful, clear and knowledgeable as well. He did some research and called me back to let me know that the parts were currently out of stock everywhere and in high demand and that if I found them online should be careful of getting price gouged. He told me the MSRP and let me know that if I were able to track the parts down, then they could install them no problem.

All the staff is super friendly, laid back and knowledgeable -- I plan to continue taking my bikes here for maintenance...

For Christmas my husband bought me a Specialized Ruby Elite from Spoke Folk Cyclery. It is his absolute favorite place to go. for his biking needs. Being new to the sport we set up a bike fitting for me. I was sensing something needed to be changed but had no idea what a Huge difference it would make! We were both impressed with Kevin, our fitter, he left nothing out. He spent 2 hours with us explaining everything he was doing and why. Kevin was super energetic and knowledgeable. Once he finished I took my Ruby for a ride. I really cannot tell you what a difference it made!! A millimeter here and there and I immediately felt more power from my legs, no pressure on my wrists, increased ease of shifting and braking, and much more comfort on the saddle. I know I'm going to enjoy this new sport. Thank you so much Spoke Folk, you guys are certainly worthy of...